Cave World Plants

Logan Stewart- Moss

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cave moss

  • About 10,000 species
  • About700 genera
  • About 110-120 families
  • Third most diverse plant that lives on land
  • It uses spores to release its seeds
  • Kingdom: Plantae
  • Division: Bryophyta








Chandra Best-Monophyllaea

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Monophyllaea

· Over 30 species
· Has a large single leaf
· Sometimes 3-4 leaves
· The whole plant has chalk glands
· Grows on limestone rocks, in shady forests, and at cave entrances and below rocks
· Has flowers on the leaf














Abigail Dewyer-Paraboea
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Paraboea

A range of plants are found in cave entrances, many of these are endemic to limestone. Paraboea is one of these plants. If an entrance of a cave is made of limestone, paraboea, along with many other plants such as monophyllaea, aroid, and moss, will grow on the limestone. Paraboea’s species number is around 87. It grows throughout Malesia, from Sumatra to New Guinea and from South China to Borneo, including the Philippines. It’s a perennial plant which means it grows again. Paraboea’s flowers are white, blue, or violet.






Alicia Kudrick- Begonia, Pahang

external image TNSenyum_191_Begonia.JPG

· Half of them are critically endangered
· They are found from sea level to mountain peaks
· Only four begonia species are found in all states
· Their asymmetric leaves make them popular ornamental plant.
· They only grow in a single valley or peak
· There is 52 species of this plant
· Only four species of the begonia are widespread





Timothy Lamont- Lampe Flora
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Lampe Flora

· Various Lampe flora may grow including mosses, ferns, and algae
· These plants produce acid which in time will erode the cave
· They can get rid of the Lampe flora but they have to do this very gently so they don’t disturb the ecosystem.
· This can change the appearance of the cave if not treated right









Lee Brown- Fern

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· They are older than land animals and far older than the dinosaurs.
· Unlike the other vascular plants, the flowering plants and conifers, where the adult plant grows immediately from the seed
· ferns reproduce from spores and an intermediate plant stage called a gametophyte.
· The first is that ferns are (relatively) delicate plants that only grow in areas where there are suitably moist conditions.
· They favor sheltered areas under the forest canopy, along creeks and streams and other sources of permanent moisture.
· They cannot grow readily in hot dry areas like flowering plants and conifers.
· The leafy branch of the fern is usually called a frond.
· The small leaflets that make up the whole frond are called pinnae.
· Over 10,000 species.

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Sarah Wheaton-Banana


external image 1-banana-tree.jpg· Does not grow on a tree
· Its found in the region of Malaysia (true origin)
· Two main kinds, sweet banana and the Plantain
· Sweet banana is eaten raw when yellow
· Plantain is cooked
· Mature height is about 15 to 30 feet
· Some grow to 40 feet
· Stems are about 12 inches thick
· Are approximately 300 species
· Only 20 species are cultivated
· An average bunch of bananas weight 80 to 125 pounds
· Each bunch produce about 15 rows
· Each row has about 20 bananas
· Each bunch yield about 200 bananas
· Harvest at green state at the right time
· 80% of bananas harvested are the cooked variety






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Works Cited


Price, Liz. "Cave Flora." Cave of malaysia. N.p., Feb. 15, 2010. Web. 31 March 2010. <http://www.caveofmalaysia.com/photopage2.htm>.
"Paraboea." Genera-gesneriaceae. N.p., 2007-07-13. Web. 31 March 2010. <http://www.genera-gesneriaceae.at/genera/paraboea.htm>.
"Welcome to Banana.com." banana.com. N.p., 1997-2010. Web. 29 March 2010. <http://www.banana.com>.
"Cave Flora." Cave Flora. N.p., Feb. 15, 2010. Web. 29 March 2010. <http://www.caveflora.com/photopage2.htm>.
"Bryophta." Bryophta. Tree of Life Project, 2004. Web. 1April 2010. <http://tolweb.org/tree?group=Bryophyta&contgroup=Embryophytes>.

"Begonias Under Threat." Resource Centre. N.p., April 13 2005. Web. 1 Apr 2010. <http://www.bgci.org/worldwide/news/0087/>.

Clarke, C.B. "Monophyllaea." Monophyllaea. N.p., 2007-1-05. Web. 1 Apr 2010. <http://www.genera-gesneriaceae.at/genera/monophyllaea.html>.

Nicholls, David. "About Ferns." Ferns of the Canberra Region. N.p., Oct. 1998. Web. 1 Apr 2010. <www.home.aone.net.au/~byzantium/ferns/about.html>.